Marina Bay Hot Chocolate Until 11pm Weekends: Bacha Coffee

Bacha Coffee, at 2 Bayfront Avenue, #B2-13/14, its Coffee Room on Fashion Avenue in the basement of the Marina Bay mall, serves its Traditional Sahara hot chocolate for S$12 and stays open until 11pm on Friday and Saturday. From Sunday to Thursday it is open 10am to 10pm. On a warm, rain-washed October night by the bay, that late weekend close makes it a natural place for a sit-down hot chocolate after dinner or a show.

The Marina Bay Sands room keeps the same all-day menu as Bacha's other Coffee Rooms, so at 10pm on a Saturday you can still order the Sahara hot chocolate, churros or a sundae. Reservations here are accepted on weekdays and the eve of public holidays, from 10am to 12pm and 6pm to 10pm, so a weeknight booking after dinner is easy. At weekends and on public holidays, it is walk-in only.

The Sahara is the menu's only hot chocolate, listed under its own heading among the beverages. At S$12 it is pitched as a treat rather than a quick drink, and it suits the setting: a lavish room off the main shopping concourse, where you can sit down after a long walk around the mall or the waterfront. Ask for it with a glass of water if you plan to pair it with dessert.

The sundaes are where the late-night menu shines. The Banana Split, at S$18, combines house ice creams in King of Africa Coffee, Madagascan vanilla and 80% Dark Chocolate with fresh banana and caramelised popcorn. The Café Liégeois, also S$18, is Happy Gianduja Coffee ice cream with hazelnut sablé and caramel sea salt, topped with hot Happy Gianduja Coffee. Either one is enough for two people to share alongside a hot chocolate each.

For something simpler, the homemade churros with hot chocolate sauce, two pieces for S$10, are the easiest pairing, and the bread and butter pudding with Vanuatu vanilla crème anglaise is S$12, made in limited numbers daily. The tiramisu, flavoured with Vienna Dawn Coffee, is S$18. Ice cream is S$14 for two scoops or S$18 for three, with sorbets in calamansi and William pear for a lighter finish.

A good late-night order for two is one Sahara each and the Banana Split to share. The dark chocolate scoop in the split echoes the hot chocolate, while the banana and caramelised popcorn keep it from feeling too heavy. If one of you would rather not have more chocolate, the calamansi sorbet is the sharpest contrast on the menu. Order dessert with the drinks so they arrive together, as the kitchen is busier at the end of the evening.

This is not a cheap stop. A hot chocolate and a shared sundae for two people comes to S$42 before any charges, the price of a good dinner elsewhere. The value is in the room and the hours, not the portion size. Come here when you want to sit down, especially late in the evening at the end of a day around the bay.

If the coffee room is full on a Saturday night, the boutique side sells coffees to take away, and the brand also runs a boutique in the Marina Bay Sands Hotel Tower lobby, open until 11pm on Friday and Saturday too. That outlet is listed as a coffee boutique rather than a coffee room, so for the full menu and the hot chocolate, Fashion Avenue is the place.

For an early-evening visit before a show, the coffee room's savoury dishes make it possible to eat here too. The French toast sandwiches run from S$28 for the Bacha club sandwich to S$32 for the wagyu striploin version, and pastas and risotto are S$31. A sandwich, a hot chocolate and a shared dessert is a full meal, and the reservation window from 6pm to 10pm on weekdays makes it easy to book a table in advance.

The brand's menus carry the line 1910 Marrakech, after the Dar el Bacha, a palace in the city's medina built in that year. The company says the house of the Pasha once gathered the great minds of the age over pots of Arabica coffee, and that it was closed for 60 years before Bacha Coffee reopened it to carry on that tradition. The Singapore coffee rooms bring the palace's look to the city's malls.

The boutique side of the room sells more than 200 coffees from 35 producing countries, according to the brand, and the yellow tins on the shelves are a common gift for visitors. If you are not a coffee drinker, the coffee-flavoured ice creams and desserts are a way to taste what the brand is known for without ordering a cup of coffee.

From The Shoppes, walk out to the Event Plaza on the bay, where the free evening light and water show plays over the water, or follow the waterfront promenade around the bay toward the Merlion and the Fullerton. The Helix Bridge links Marina Bay Sands to the promenade on the other side, and it is a pleasant walk at night, when the city skyline is lit up.

Bayfront MRT station on the Circle and Downtown lines connects directly to The Shoppes, so it is easy to arrive and leave without going outside on a rainy night. Gardens by the Bay is a short walk in the other direction, and its Supertree Grove is lit in the evening. After 11pm, the MRT's last trains are the main constraint, so plan the journey home before the second dessert.

Address: Bacha Coffee, 2 Bayfront Avenue, #B2-13/14, Singapore 018972 (Fashion Avenue, The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands). Hours: Monday to Thursday 10am to 10pm, Friday and Saturday 10am to 11pm, Sunday 10am to 10pm. Reservations: weekdays and eve of public holidays, 10am to 12pm and 6pm to 10pm; none at weekends or on public holidays. Menu prices: Traditional Sahara hot chocolate S$12; churros with hot chocolate sauce S$10; Banana Split S$18; Café Liégeois S$18; bread and butter pudding S$12; ice cream two scoops S$14. Nearest MRT: Bayfront. The Karpo APP can suggest a late dinner nearby.